This is a very pretty deep golden DIPA. The downfall, however, is the smell and taste character. Cocoa powder, wet wood, and monotone hops come through in the nose. Taste is interesting but not that great. A strong hop entrance that gives way to a buttered bread taste that transitions into very strong just burnt crust and burnt wood character and finally into an almost poison-like strong rotten-wood esque touch. Not horrible but not my cup of DIPA tea. (484 characters)

1st time had in bottle from Case purchased at a distributor in Franklin, PA. Don't know how it was stored or freshness because it was three from the bottom in a stack of 10 of random cases in the shop. Shop was cold, on a hot August day so probably not heat stricken.

2nd time - On draft at Brewhouse in San Diego, CA. Brother in Law knows the owner so got a pour fresh from fermentor without carb. Review is from 1st tasting.

A: Good orange color typical of an IPA. Carbonation gave a good 1/2 inch head the whole time, poured into a brandy snifter.

S: Rich in CA citrus-y hoppiness. Grapefruit front, with a slight lemon/pine finish. Sweetness comes off the nose probably from the malt bill.

T: Just like a DIPA should taste like. Great sweet on the front of the tongue with a prominent hop bite at the back. Grapefruit piney linger on the tongue.

M: Malty, but seemed to leave quickly. No sugary residue feeling with a swish around the mouth. Not dry either.

O: Upon initial tasting, thought I would like to see what it would taste like fresh, and upon second tasting, definitely would like to keep it fresh. It was a great find in PA and mostly got for novelty purposes because my Brother in Law didn't know what I was bringing back to the cabin. Glad he was able to surprise me with the second taste. Would get it again in CA if I couldn't find any other "Wants" on tap. (1,382 characters)

Pours a lighter fizzy 1/2 finger head that sticks around a bit at least, nice layered lacing, over mostly clear nectar orange with a slight reddish hue.

Nose has some bittering hops, plenty of malts, sweet malts with some caramel and bready toasty reddish malts. The hops bring some candied like aromas, with light candy orange and earthy syrupy almost hop extract like, and hints of candied tangerine and clementine.

Taste comes sweet, quite sweet actually, lots of malts that just bombard the taste with sweetness and even some syrupy flavors, a bit of a maple like flavor as well that comes with the reddish malts, caramel, toffee, and nougat. Sweetness tries to balance the booze but doesn't quite go far enough, or in thsi case I think too far that the booze comes out the other end... uhhh didn't mean it that way... but the booze still comes out with a warmth and little tingle. The hops are mostly bittering, fairly bitter but not enough to balance the malty sweetness, light candied tangerine and slight clementine like citrus, earthy hops, but not much of any of the flavors, mostly just bittering that even somehow gets a bit astringent. The finish is still fairly syrupy and sweet, it tries to dry but just can't, with a big astringent bitter bite that doesn't want to go away, even with the sweet malty mess, just a bit of booze on the finish as well.

Overall not very good, a mess of a beer, way too overboard on the malts, sweetness, and booze, but still somehow finds a way to get too bitter and astringent, and the hops don't add much except the bitterness. Quite undrinkable. (1,678 characters)

T- More interesting than I expected. I can't say i love it though. Very heavy malt presence. Syrupy, sweet. One flavor i can't quite put my finger on, (juniper berries??). The finish is fairly dry and bitter compared to the very sweet start.

Smell: Sweet, bitter, citrusy. Booze pops out on the back end. Smells decent but it’s a warning this one will be too heavy on the malt and fusel alcohol.

Taste: Pretty much par for the course west coast style DIPA, with a lot of citrusy hoppiness, grapefruit, orange and pineapple flavors as well as piney notes, but sweeter and maltier than I would prefer and the booze is way too noticeable and in your face for me. Boozy sugar cookie taste mixed with big, bitter hops that don’t quite pack enough of a flavor punch. In other words, everything’s in there but it just doesn’t combine all that well.

Mf: Not too bad, very full with medium to low carbonation and a creamy, sticky chewiness. Maybe a bit overly full in combination with the assertive maltiness; feels like a bit of a chore to drink.

Overall: I thought this one was a little clumsy. The bartender poured and watched me to see how blown away I was and all I could manage was a weak smile. Just heavy handed on the booze and a bit of a mess. With so many truly exceptional IPAs and DIPAs in the immediate vicinity you better be great to stand out and this one just doesn’t. Not to say this is a terrible beer by any stretch, it’s just average at best in a land of knockout examples of the style. (1,366 characters)

Pours amber with slight haze, and quickly dissipating tan head. Nose is surprisingly light for a double india pale ale, with overripe fruit and discarded citrus rinds, and then some pine. Dark fruits on the palate, fairly decent malt influence, and then a big does of alcohol heat onto the finish. Aftertaste is long with more overripe fruit and alcohol heat. (359 characters)

A: A pleasant dark orange with good clarity. White head is frothy and leaves scattered lacing.

S: Big caramel malt presence with notes of bread, orange, and grapefruit. Moderately bitter with a lower moderate sweetness. Slightly sugary. Gives the impression of balance, though perhaps the scale tilts in the favor of malt.

T: Orange flesh with a strong caramel malt base balancing it out. Grapefruit emerges midpalate with an apparent rind component. Tastes more like an American Barleywine than a Double IPA. Booze is well masked. Caramel really emerges as the beer warms up. Increased booze presence in the caramel citrus finish.

A- Orange color, bright with a little bit of haze. very little head retention, left a little white suds around the edges. color is nice, just seems like there's little life to the beer.

S- Some citrus hops and some earthy hops. Not a very strong aroma. Hints of sweet malts behind the hops, reminded me of a very mild english barleywine...almost watered down.

T- Pretty good. Hoppy resins backed up quickly with some malt sweetness. Citrus up front but get quickly deminished by bitter earthy hops. Wasn't a huge fan of the after taste, too much residual bitterness.

M- Wasn't a fan of how this beer drank. At first it is nice, but it quickly turned into a bitter earthy mess with a lot of residual flavor.

12oz bottle that I wisely purchased for $3 instead of a bomber or four pack. Orange color, good head and lace, appearance is good. Aroma is very boring, old malt, I don;t think there are any hops. Flavor is much the same and very disappointing. I ended up pouring this out, not because it was disgusting but just because it was such a weak DIPA that it wasn't worth my drinking time. I suspect Mission sent old beer to CO which is a very poor way to enter a market, I expected a lot more from a San Diego brewery when it comes to IPA's. I won't be purchasing any more of their beer. (582 characters)

A: Pours a hazy copper color. It requires a very aggressive pour just to yield one finger of white-colored head, and even then, it doesn't have good retention. A little bit of lacing is left behind, though.

S: Very citrusy...but also very sweet. The hops bring some nice grapefruit notes and even a few tropical fruit hints. On the other hand, it's smothered by all that sweet caramel and toffee coming from the malt backbone.

T: Two words: toffee bomb. It has a citrusy start, before the huge maltiness takes over. Maybe there's some mint in the finish. Did I mention its a toffee bomb? Because sweet zombie Jesus, this is ridiculously sugary for an IPA. It's also kind of boozy.

M: It's crisper on the back end than I would have guessed. This bite helps give it a touch more drinkability than I expected - which means it's pretty good for such a thick, sugary, syrupy DIPA. Decent carbonation also helps, too.

O: I'm not a fan of this big, boozy, sugary sweet DIPA, but this isn't horrible. It also doesn't do much to make it more desirable to someone averse to this kind of beer. It's decent enough, all things considering. (1,164 characters)

T - The hops combine to form a spicy, sharp flavor. Flowers and pepper with a touch of citrus. It lack much of a malt presence. Aftertaste is still floral and peppery, but a hint of biscuit leaks in to foreground.

M - Medium bodied, a harsh, biting feel to it, neutral in terms of how refreshing it feels.

D - Not bad. I won't bother with it again, but it wasn't unpleasant. (562 characters)

On tap @ The Toronado (San Diego, CA) on 3/22/10. Served in a pint glass.

Pours a clear copper, with a thin covering of bright-white creamy head. There's a moderate richness to the retention and lacing. Decent little look here. The aroma has some hops going on with it, with some floral notes, pine, and some light pine. However this very sweet overall in the nose, with a muddled mix of sticky fruit and malts. Very sweet here...

The taste is the same, with a LOT of deep sweetness to it from tropical fruits and bready caramel character. The hops only really come out in the back, with pine, spice, and a bit of an off-putting earthy grittiness in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a nice firm mouth-filling creaminess to the carbonation. To it's credit, this really isn't showing much alcohol and the feel here is probably the best part of the beer.

Just way too much sweetness here for a DIPA, with more hops needed at the forefront of the profile. I've had a couple of different beers now from Mission and this wasn't one of the better ones. (1,066 characters)

A very malty and fruity nose, emphasis seems to be more malty than hoppy. Sweet toffee-like malts, some fruits and just enough faint hops swim into the nose. Very different aroma for a supposed Double/Imperial IPA.

Fairly thick body of sweet toffee malts, fruits and different kind of hops than normally used for any American-style IPA. Average carbonation level. More on the malty and sweet side, not nearly hoppy enough for a regular American IPA, much less a Double/Imperial. It's a good, pleasant taste indeed, but it's very disappointing as a DIPA.

As other reviewers on this site and others have stated, this is probably much close to a trippel or English IPA at best. Had the brewery classified and/or marketed it as one of those, it would get a lot more points from me and, no doubt, others. (909 characters)

Light copper color...mixed size bubbles hung around for awhile. Aroma of melons. Taste is immediately rough if not harsh, a significant assault on the tongue to cause "funky face." I've smelled that smell before, and it's often near rotting melons or trash cans. Not pretty. Is that an aerosol component with those esters?!! Humm...clean lines? On the other hand, this was mailed to me through BeerJobber.com with their Imperial Stout, which I've yet to rate.Also, in it's defense, there's seemingly a lot of hops and significant malts, butterscotch, and some pine that I enjoy. But the alcohol is strong, and the esters or something makes this an tooth enamel remover...let me take 5 minutes and report back.Back...oh yes...big melon aroma - can't escape it...bright hop alcohol flavors...ah...hope I'm not shipwrecked with just this beer...let me give it 10 more minutes...Oh boy...peed, drank water, ate a cookie and this mofo stands out as something that could wreck a ship, or your palate!! This is more of a palate wrecker than Ballast Point's! It's an utter assault but I'm still plowing through and won't pour it out!!! I'll check back in ten.Ooooh...did I mention toothpaste and candy canes, and , despite all I've said quite unique and intriguing, compelling, and tasty even if I don't quite know if I like it!!...and melon in the nose...~...signing off but I will finish this beer...ayieeee!!!! (1,410 characters)

A: Brilliant golden hue, topped with a fluffy white head. For whatever reason, I poured this into a Delerium Tremens snifter, so the nucleation point is giving it a pretty look.

S + T: I don't get a whole lot of aromatics from the nose. There are some mild citrus scents and a touch of woodiness, but it's really quite tame. The flavour is somewhat mellow, as well--and most certainly for a double IPA. The malts seem a little dominant, and there's a sweetness that is not balanced with the hops. The flavour is not BAD, but somewhat unbalanced and modest. It could shoot more towards an 'American translation on the English IPA without becoming an American IPA,' but I suppose that just wouldn't make any sense. :)

M + D: The body is a little slick; perhaps it is more oily. The carbonation is modest, and has a nice little bite, but given the sweetness of the beer, it's a little 'sticky' and almost candied. I didn't mind it, but I'd probably set my sights on another in the store. (988 characters)

A - Pours a clear deep color, marginal carbonation, small white foam headwith very large bubbles, and sticks to the sides of the glass.

S - A little bit of roasted caramel/toffee and some alcohol. The malts smell somewhat German. Is that it??? Really?

T - Yep, the same as the nose - toffee and booze. Something tells me this beer is probably past its prime. There's some very mild grapefruit, orange, and lemon citrus...just barely. If this were fresh, I'm sure the citric content would be much stronger and vibrant. The hops are coming through like a dim light bulb toasted malt taking the forefront and finishes with some lemon that intensifies a little more after the sip. The malt is a little buttery. This beer is on the sweet side rather than the hoppy side. I can deal with the sweetness part, it's a nice toasted character but it really needs some boost in the bitter department to keep those malts in check. I can see where the flavor of this would be much better if both malts and bitterness were intensified...it's so %$#@ mellow that it's pretty boring for a D-IPA - intensity, man - more cowbell!!. (I really hate to say that too.) As I work through the bottle, it gets a little better, but not much.

M - Medium bodied, nice and smooth on the tongue.

D - Average, depending on what you're looking for. It's almost balanced with the nod leaning towards the malt.

I'm keeping this review open until I can locate an ULTRA FRESH one to make sure I give it a fare shake. D-IPA's are my absolute favorite and it kills me to rate one lower than I normally would. In its present state, I think this would be a GREAT step in the big beer direction for those who may not be so familiar with D-IPA's. Shipwrecked, let's meet again and give it another go with a different bottle, all is not lost. (1,803 characters)

A-pours copper color with a very light tan head with pretty good retentionS-citrus and nutty, not a real complex noseT-very sweet malt with citrus almost being put in the background. Seems a bit backward on the taste profile. Also lacking alot of distinction in the different flavors. Alcohol presence is very noticeableM-Medium bodiedO-not a great example of the style. It is drinkable but I wouldn't seek it out or recommend it (433 characters)

Poured from a 22 ounce bottle into a wheat beer glass. Beer is brown and hazy, forms a big off white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. Carbonation is low. Looks OK.

Malty almost hoppy aroma, not too appetizing for a DIPA.

Well its easy drinking for such a big beer but the bitterness is at best weak. Its not very sweet up front, its a smooth creamy mouthfeel but this is pretty disappointing. Come on Cali, can't you make a good IPA...oh wait...nevermind. (467 characters)